Will the Padres Exercise the Contract Options on 2 Key Starting Pitchers?

Big decisions to be made.

After a disappointing 82-80 2023 campaign, your Padres are faced with a few critical offseason decisions when it comes to managing player personnel. 

Specifically, already having had the 3rd highest payroll in the MLB this past season, they have plenty to figure out with regards to who they plan to retain, extend, and sign.

Two players that have club options this season, which provides the Padres management with the ability to either choose to retain them or let them walk, are two pitchers: Nick Martinez and Michael Wacha.

Martinez is coming off of a season in which he went 6-4 and put up a 3.43 ERA, along with a 1.26 WHIP and 106 strikeouts in 63 appearances both as a starter and reliever (9 as starter, 54 as reliever).

Wacha finished 14-4 with a 3.22 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP in 24 appearances, all of which were starts.

Both player options are on the more expensive side relative to the rest of the Padres roster, at around $16M annually. That figure slots in as the 5th-most expensive contract on the roster. 

Martinez is a versatile pitcher, who, as mentioned, was used out of both the bullpen and as a starter, and was productive in both roles. Wacha was highly effective in his starts as well, making things a pretty easy decision regarding what the Friars should do this offseason. 

With the top pitching unit in the league by ERA, San Diego should retain their staff to the best of their ability. Finishing just 82-80 in spite of the league's top pitching unit should give them a sense of concern, as if they lose anyone and fail to regress to the mean in other departments, they may fall short of the postseason again in 2024. 

A price tag of $16M for a solid pitcher is a reasonable deal, as this would comfortably slot both Martinez and Wacha to around the 30th-ranked spot in the league in terms of average salary. And with the way they performed this past season and the Padres' need for them, that seems valid.